Virat Kohli took a giant stride towards exorcising the ghosts of 2014 with a masterful century as he single-handedly pulled India out of the woods against England on an eventful second day of the first Test.

Kohli’s 149, which will rank among one of the finest hundreds by an Indian batsman on English soil, enabled the visitors to reach 274 thereby bringing down the first innings deficit to only 13 runs.

His 22nd Test hundred had 22 boundaries and a six and the unbridled joy on competing the coveted hundred was palpable as he let out a wild roar and kissed his wedding ring. He was beaten but he looked unfazed. He covered the swing, the footwork was more assured whenever he met the ball on the front-foot.

Kohli’s innings is worth its weight in gold simply because of the situation the team was in. Dhawan and Murali Vijay (20) did the hardwork of seeing off the new ball with a 50-run stand but it all went awry after that.

Finally he was the last man out trying to cut Adil Rashid and got a standing ovation from the crowd. But not before an innings that will go down as one of his most memorable centuries.

After entering to boos, there was only applause as he left the field having scored more than half of India’s runs. Here’s how Twitter celebrated the extraordinary effort. Hint: It was all praise and awe, across countries and fields.